June 8: Think tank says IAEA found Iran conducted implosion tests key to building nuke in 2003

Edelstein said willing to drop property tax sanctions in Haredi conscription bill if other measures kept

MK Yuli Edelstein attends a plenum session in the Knesset, June 4, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair Yuli Edelstein is willing to remove sanctions that would see ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers lose their property tax discounts as long as other measures can be kept in the conscription bill being debated by the panel, Channel 12 reports.

Other sanctions which would be kept in the bill include the loss of public transportation discounts, the removal of tax benefits for working women married to dodgers, exclusion from the housing lottery, and the cancellation of daycare and academic subsidies. The bill would also prevent draft dodgers up to the age of 29 from receiving driver’s licenses or traveling abroad and would open them up to the threat of arrest.

Edelstein has pledged that any law coming out of his Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee would levy sanctions on draft dodgers, leading ultra-Orthodox parties to threaten to dissolve the Knesset this week.

An official in the Degel HaTorah faction of the United Torah Judaism party tells Channel 12 news: “As of now, everything is up in the air. We want clear agreements.”

Tehran says it would reduce cooperation with IAEA if anti-Iran resolution passed by agency

TEHRAN, Iran — Tehran warns it would reduce its cooperation with the United Nations’s nuclear watchdog if an anti-Iran resolution is passed at an upcoming meeting of the world body.

“Certainly, the IAEA should not expect the Islamic Republic of Iran to continue its broad and friendly cooperation,” Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for Iran’s atomic energy organization, says on state TV when asked how Tehran would respond if the resolution is passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors meeting, which is due to start Monday.

Hostage talks at an impasse after brief US optimism about potential breakthrough — sources

Protesters against the government and for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip hold a sign reading, "Rescue the hostages, end the war," in Tel Aviv, June 7, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Hostage talks between Israel and Hamas remain at an impasse, two sources familiar with the negotiations tell The Times of Israel, after some of the mediators expressed optimism last week that Hamas would agree to soften its response to US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s hostage deal proposal.

Witkoff told hostage families he met with in Washington last week that he was optimistic about the chances for a breakthrough before the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which began on Friday, according to a source present in the meeting. Even if such a breakthrough had been reached, though, the sides still need to hold a round of proximity talks to close final details, such as the exact parameters of Israel’s partial military withdrawal.

But Hamas is standing by its demand for clearer wording that prevents Israel from resuming the war if terms on a permanent ceasefire are not reached during the 60-day truce and hostage release deal that Witkoff has proposed, an Arab official from one of the mediating countries says.

The proposal crafted by Witkoff leaves open a window for Israel to resume fighting if talks on a permanent ceasefire do not bear fruit within 60 days.

Witkoff has been urging mediators to lean on Hamas to soften its demands, insisting that once a deal is reached on a temporary truce, the US will make sure that the ceasefire is made permanent, the Arab official says.

However, Hamas does not want to trust Witkoff’s word alone, pointing to Israel’s decision to resume the war in March, rather than hold talks on a permanent ceasefire, as a January ceasefire had stipulated, the Arab official says.

The Arab official maintains that the US to date has mistakenly accepted Israel’s aversion to a temporary ceasefire, arguing that Jerusalem needed to be pressured by Washington to change course.

“If Israel agreed to a permanent ceasefire, [it] could get all of the hostages back at once,” the Arab official says. “Instead [it’s] trying to fight until the last Hamas fighter, and this will never end.”

Asked whether pressure needed to also be placed on Hamas, the Arab official insisted that the mediators have been leaning on the terror group and that it has resulted in its willingness to accept a temporary framework.

But given the wording, Hamas is seeking to block Israel from resuming the war, the temporary truce would effectively be a permanent one, the Arab official acknowledges.

Still, a second source familiar says that mediators are continuing to push Hamas to soften the response it issued to Witkoff’s proposal late last month, which the US envoy called “unacceptable.”

Witkoff has called on Hamas to accept his proposal, so that proximity talks on final gaps can commence.

If enough progress is made in moving Hamas, Witkoff may be dispatched to the region to finalize an agreement, the second source says, adding that mediators don’t want the US envoy to make the trip unless they’re confident a deal can be closed.

‘A year has passed, and nothing has changed’: Noa Argamani marks anniversary of rescue

Noa Argamani is embraced by her father, Yaakov, at Sheba Medical Center after being rescued from Hamas captivity, June 8, 2024. (IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

Noa Argamani marks a year since she was freed from captivity in Gaza by a rescue operation by security forces.

“A year has passed since my rescue, since I got my life back. A year has passed, and on one hand, nothing has changed,” she writes in a post on Instagram.

Argamani laments that hostages remain in Gaza in terrible conditions.

She notes there was happiness surrounding her and three others’ freedom, while in contrast, a family’s world “was shattered the moment they announced the passing of Arnon Zmora, may his memory be a blessing,” referring to the Yamam officer killed in the operation.

“I lost my mother, the person closest to me in this world. I understood that the country was in mourning and there is nothing like the nation of Israel when it supports one another,” she writes.

She writes that her boyfriend, Evyatan Or, remains captive by Hamas, and that “we have spent more time apart than when we were together.”

“May this nightmare end and the 55 hostages return home,” she concludes.

IDF chief pans Channel 14 for ‘false’ claim army’s top lawyer vetoed strike on building where 4 troops were killed

Chief Military Advocate Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on October 1, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash 90)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir hits back at the far-right Channel 14 news station for claiming this evening that a booby-trapped building that killed four troops in Khan Younis last week was not struck because of an order given by the Military Advocate General.

“The chief of staff condemns the false, repeated, and baseless attacks regarding the conduct of the Military Advocate General,” Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, says Zamir in a statement.

“There was no directive from the Military Advocate General not to strike the building that collapsed and led to the deaths of four IDF soldiers in Khan Younis on Friday,” he continues.

“The claims made in this context are false, malicious, and entirely unfounded,” Zamir says, referring to the Channel 14 report.

“The safety of IDF soldiers is a central consideration in all operations carried out in the Gaza Strip, and the forces on the ground have operational freedom to remove threats,” he says.

“The chief of staff strongly condemns the defamation of IDF officers who work day and night for the security of the state and the protection of its citizens,” the statement adds.

Channel 14’s report claimed that the building was not targeted in an airstrike because Tomer-Yerushalmi ostensibly changed army protocol that prohibited striking the structure.

The IDF has said that the troops entered the building to search it for possible tunnel entrances. Despite efforts by the IDF to locate booby-traps, Hamas set off a bomb as the soldiers entered the building, which collapsed on them, killing four and wounding five.

GHF says it will open three aid distribution sites tomorrow

People carry relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private US-backed aid group, as displaced Palestinians return from an aid distribution center in the central Gaza Strip on June 8, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will open three distribution centers tomorrow, says the US- and Israeli-backed initiative.

The Wadi Gaza site in the central Strip will open at 6 a.m., says the GHF in a statement.

The two Tel Sultan sites in southern Gaza will open at noon.

The GHF asked Gazans not to approach the sites before the opening time.

Distribution today, according to the organization, was “organized and smooth.”

The GHF reported today that it distributed another 17,000 boxes of food at the three sites, a day after it said it was forced to shutter operations due to threats against its staff by Hamas operatives.

Think tank: IAEA found Iran conducted, covered up implosion tests key to building nuclear weapon in 2003

Iran conducted and covered up “a number” of implosion tests that are key to developing a nuclear weapon in 2003, an analysis of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s May 31 report on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program reveals.

According to the Washington, DC-based Institute for Science and International Security think tank, which analysed and published key points from the IAEA report, the activities carried out by Iran were in preparation for a “cold test” in the development of a nuclear bomb, which involves the creation of “a fully assembled nuclear device with a surrogate core of natural or depleted uranium rather than weapons-grade uranium.”

Four tests were carried out in Marivan that “utilized ‘full-scale hemispherical implosion systems,’ involving the initiation of high explosives, with the generation of a spherically inward shock wave, and a resulting compression of a nuclear explosive core, minus the weapons-grade uranium and EDNS,” according to the institute, citing the IAEA report.

Explosively driven neutron sources are devices that utilize high explosives to create a burst of neutrons, and are key for the building of nuclear weapons.

According to ISIS, the IAEA’s report reveals for the first time that activities at the four nuclear sites — Marivan, Lavisan-Shian, Varamin, and Turquz-Abad — are deeply connected with the issue of missing nuclear material.

Iran, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, has denied seeking to build a nuclear weapon while enriching uranium to levels that have no use for civilian purposes.

One arrested at Tel Aviv demonstration in support of high-profile Gaza-bound protest boat

Police arrest at least one person at a left-wing protest outside the French embassy on the Tel Aviv beachfront.

Nobody from a spontaneous and at times violent counterprotest was detained.

The 50-odd left-wing demonstration was called in support of the Freedom Flotilla’s high-profile mission to Gaza, the Madleen, half of whose 12-member crew are French citizens, including Palestinian-French MEP Rima Hassan, who enjoys diplomatic immunity.

Hassan posted about the protest earlier today. A member of the protest group in Tel Aviv confirms to The Times of Israel that the group is in contact with the Madleen.

Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier today called on the “antisemitic” activists to make a U-turn.

Police at the protest declare the left-wing demonstration illegal within about 40 minutes, in which time a crowd of beachgoers — roughly double the number of left-wing protesters — gather across the street, hurling obscenities and some physical objects, including a full water bottle, at the protesters.

The counter-protesters yell “terrorists” and “go to Gaza” at the left-wing activists, often drowning out the activists’ chants, which include “Stop the genocidal war” and “killing children is not a public diplomacy problem.”

Several counter-protesters rush across the street to scuffle with the left-wing activists and tear down signs, including large banners reading “Gaza ghetto” and “Zionism is genocide.” One counter-protester mistakenly identifies a Times of Israel reporter as a protester and attempts to shove him into the road.

Police push away violent counter-protesters, preventing a larger brawl.

When more police arrive, officers tell the left-wing activists to wrap it up and begin pushing them up a staircase away from the beach, warning that anyone who resists arrest will be detained, at which point they detain one of the activists.

Police in Tel Aviv detain a left-wing activist who protested in support of the Madleen outside the French embassy. pic.twitter.com/8D7Q9I5r52

— Noam Lehmann (@noamlehmann) June 8, 2025

Beach-goers hurl obscenities at a left-wing protest in support of the Madleen outside the French embassy in Tel Aviv. One tries to rip down a sign before police intervene. pic.twitter.com/40AmIrZa4H

— Noam Lehmann (@noamlehmann) June 8, 2025

Senior Israeli official: If Greta Thunberg’s boat reaches Gaza, ‘wave of flotillas’ will follow; ‘we won’t let this happen’

A senior Israeli official tells Channel 12 news that if a high-profile activist mission is allowed to sail to Gaza, a “wave of flotillas” will come to challenge the blockade.

The official says that if the vessel does not turn back, it will be boarded by Navy commandos and taken to Ashdod port.

“We are surrounding Gaza from every direction in order to strangle Hamas and not enable [Gaza] to get any aid from any factor that is not overseen by Israel. If we allow one flotilla to enter, masses will follow, and this provocation [by Greta Thunberg’s boat] will create a wave of flotillas that are hostile to Israel. We will not let this happen,” the official adds.

The Madleen boat was organized by the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel Freedom Flotilla Coalition. Among the 12 activists on the ship are Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, Brazilian activist Thiago Avila and Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian European Parliament member.

Report: Documents found in Gaza show Hamas-Qatar coordination against Trump peace plan

Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (R), in a meeting with Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh (L) and official Khaled Mashal in Doha, Qatar, October 17, 2016. (Qatar government handout)

Channel 12 reports that documents found during the army’s operations in Gaza show a close effort between Qatar and Hamas to thwart US President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century” peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians and efforts for Arab countries to normalize relations with the Jewish state.

The report contends, citing the documents, that Qatar’s relationship was crucial to the Hamas terror group’s survival over the years, and its ability to carry out the October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel.

In an emergency June 2019 meeting, Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani met with Hamas leaders regarding concerns over Trump’s plans for peace and for Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel.

Al Thani noted that countries such as Saudi Arabia may agree to ties with Israel, the report says.

Khaled Mashaal reportedly told Al Thani, “We need to cooperate in order to resist the deal of the century and thwart it.”

In December 2019, at a meeting with Qatar’s then-foreign minister, now Prime Minister Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh reportedly said, “The Qatari grants are Hamas’s main artery,” referring to the cash given by Doha to the terror group.

Later in 2020, Trump officially unveiled a peace plan that he framed as a “realistic” two-state solution. The “deal of the century,” formally entitled “Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People,” offered the Palestinians a state on roughly 70% of the West Bank that wouldn’t include Israel’s settlements, as well as a chunk of the Negev desert and a hefty economic aid package.

Documents reported by Channel 12 also show correspondence demonstrating that Hamas worked to remove Egypt’s diplomatic influence in Gaza’s affairs, and to replace it with Qatar’s.

Then Gaza’s ruler, Yahya Sinwar, reportedly wrote to Haniyeh in May 2021 after the terror group’s 11-day clash with Israel: “The Egyptians were attempting to restrain the escalation, and we caused them to leave the picture with empty hands. In their place, the Qataris came, and we gave them an opportunity to dictate the fruits of diplomacy.”

Qatar subsequently hit out at the report, calling the documents “fabricated,” and asserting that it was another “attempt to sow tension and division between Qatar and the United States at a crucial stage in our efforts to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.”

“This tactic has been used previously by those who want diplomacy to fail. They do not want Qatar’s work with the Trump administration – on the Gaza file and other regional files – to succeed in bringing peace to the region,” the Qatari statement continued.

“Similar methods have been used against those who have spoken out against the continuation of the war or worked diplomatically to bring the hostages home including members of President Trump’s administration, in an effort to discredit them and undermine the diplomatic process,” the Qatari statement continued. “Their efforts will not succeed. No fabricated documents will weaken the bond between Qatar and the United States.

Israel confirms body of Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar found in Gaza tunnel

IDF troops remove the body of a Hamas operative from a tunnel running underneath the European Hospital in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, June 7, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF and Shin Bet confirm that the body of Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar was found by troops in a tunnel that ran underneath the European Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.

The body was taken from the tunnel, used by Hamas as a command center, on Saturday, after troops reached the hospital several days prior. Several other bodies, belonging to other Hamas operatives, were also taken.

The military says that following an identification process, it is now confirmed that one of the bodies belongs to Sinwar, who was killed in an Israeli strike on the tunnel on May 13.

The strike also killed Muhammad Shabana, commander of the terror group’s Rafah Brigade, and Mahdi Quara, commander of the South Khan Younis Battalion.

Also in the tunnel, the military says it located several items belonging to Sinwar and Shabana, including ID cards. Weapons were also found.

The IDF says the other bodies are still undergoing an identification process.

The inside of a Hamas tunnel running underneath the European Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, in a video published by the military on June 8, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Lebanese army reportedly searching for Hezbollah arms in Dahiyeh

The Lebanese army is searching for weapons and military equipment in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, a stronghold of the Hezbollah terror group, the Lebanese TV network Aljadeed reports.

It comes days after Israel struck underground drone manufacturing sites in the neighborhood.

This was happening, the military said, “despite the understandings between Israel and Lebanon” as laid out in a November ceasefire agreement that halted more than a year of fighting along Israel’s northern border.

“This activity is a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon. The Hezbollah terror organization creates challenges for the Lebanese state and thus impairs the implementation of the understandings,” the IDF asserted.

An image circulating on social media appeared to show Lebanese troops searching Dahiyeh, apparently for weapons.

בהמשך לדיווח שלנו במהדורה אתמול, על אף האיום הפומבי בשעה זו מדווחים בלבנון שצבא בתיאום עם וועדת הפיקוח הבינ"ל סורק אתר חשוד בדאחיה של ביירות, חשוד בכך שיש בו אמצעי לחימה וכו' https://t.co/sv6muuLjoO pic.twitter.com/YIaqV4TIlw

— roi kais • روعي كايس • רועי קייס (@kaisos1987) June 8, 2025

‘Give me one achievement you made’: Smotrich, Barkat said to squabble at cabinet meeting

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Economy Minister Nir Barkat attend a Knesset Health Committee meeting, in Jerusalem, on July 17, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Economy Minister Nir Barkat butted heads during today’s cabinet meeting, accusing one another of mismanaging their respective ministries, Hebrew media reports.

Barkat accused Smotrich of being absent from efforts to keep the costs of flights down for Israelis, media outlets quote.

“From the start of the war, I acted together with the Transportation Ministry to curb the prices of flights. The one who has been absent from all the discussions about price control is the treasury. Only when there are sweets do you suddenly jump,” Barkat reportedly said.

“I’ve had enough from the management of the Finance Minister that bypasses the ministries. If he wants to manage everything alone, let him take both the authority and the responsibility,” he reportedly added.

“You are only doing damage as the economy minister. The public is suffering and you are flying around the world,” Smotrich responded, the reports say.

“Give me one achievement you made since the beginning of the government,” he reportedly said.

According to reports, Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs had to intervene to stop the argument.

After Colorado attack, several hundred rally for hostages in NYC

A rally for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, in Central Park, New York City, June 8, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

Several hundred demonstrators rally in support of the Israeli hostages in Gaza in New York City’s Central Park, after a firebombing of a hostage rally in Boulder, Colorado, last weekend.

The Central Park rally takes place every Sunday. Today’s demonstration appears to draw a larger crowd than usual.

Speakers repeatedly bring up the attack.

“We know that there are those who try to silence us,” says Eric Goldstein, the head of the UJA Federation of New York.”

“They were not silenced, they’re back again this week,” he says of the protest group in Boulder. “We cannot be silenced. We must come back stronger.”

Some in the crowd cry as the mother of Matan Lior, killed at the Supernova party, describes his final moments.

The crowd chants, “Seal the deal,” and “You are not alone.”

Organizers say they have increased security at the event. The crowd gives a round of applause for the police and the security company protecting the rally.

Funerals held for 4 soldiers killed in Gaza building blast

Clockwise from top left: IDF soldiers Staff Sgt. Yoav Raver, Staff Sgt. Uri Yhonatan Cohen, Sgt. First Class Tom Rotstein, and Sgt. Maj. (res.) Chen Gross, who were killed in Gaza on June 6, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The funerals of four soldiers killed in Friday’s building explosion in the southern Gaza Strip are held throughout the country.

Staff Sgt. Yoav Raver, one of four soldiers, is buried at the Sde Warburg Cemetery.

In his eulogy, Lior Raver, Yoav’s father, says his son taught him “humility, love, brotherhood, and friendship.”

“I asked you if you weren’t afraid, you said you were afraid, but that you were professional. You set out with your head held high on a noble mission — to bring information about the hostages or to bring them back themselves,” he says.

Soldiers carry the flag-draped coffin of IDF Staff Sgt. Yoav Raver, who was killed in action in the Gaza Strip, during his funeral at the Sde Warburg cemetery in central Israel, on June 8, 2025. (Menahem Kahana / AFP)

Separately, hundreds of people join a funeral procession for Staff Sgt. Uri Yhonatan Cohen, who is buried in Neve Yarak Cemetery.

The funerals of Sgt. First Class Tom Rotstein and Sgt. Maj. (res.) Chen Gross are held by loved ones in private.

IDF says it ‘almost certainly’ found Muhammad Sinwar’s body in Khan Younis tunnel

IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin speaks in Khan Younis, June 8, 2025. (Screenshot/IDF Spokesperson)

One of the bodies the IDF pulled out of a tunnel in Khan Younis over the weekend is “almost certainly” Hamas military leader Muhammad Sinwar, says IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin.

The IDF extracted 4 other bodies from a tunnel under Khan Younis’s European Hospital, including — the military believes — Rafah brigade commander Muhammed Shabaneh.

The Times of Israel toured the tunnel earlier today.

The IDF’s 36th Division takes The Times of Israel into the tunnel where the military believes Hamas military chief Muhammad Sinwar was killed last month, under the European Hospital in Khan Younis, June 8, 2025. (Lazar Berman/The Times of Israel)

Muhammad Sinwar was the younger brother of the former Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. The younger Sinwar was killed in an Israeli strike on the tunnel system on May 13.

Israeli hostages were likely held in the tunnel as well at some point, says Maj. N., a company commander in the Golani Brigade’s elite reconnaissance company.

“This was one of the command and control centers that Hamas used to carry out the October 7 attacks on the Gaza border communities, the slaughter and the murder,” says Defrin, addressing Israeli military reporters above an entrance to the tunnel.

Turning to the new US- and Israeli-backed humanitarian aid effort in Gaza, Defrin says that Israel, “as opposed to Hamas, is feeding the population, and we will do everything to open these distribution sites.”

“We are giving out tens of thousands of boxes of food a day, which have reached millions of people already,” he continues. “It works and we will continue to do it. It undermines Hamas’s rule, it pulls the rug out from under its feet, and it’s working.”

The purpose of the ongoing ground operation, says Defrin, “is bringing back the hostages and bringing down Hamas’s rule.”

GHF says it delivered food to Gazan community leaders for distribution as part of pilot program

A Palestinian picks up aid at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution center on June 8, 2025. (GHF)

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation reports that it distributed another 17,000 boxes of food at three sites in Rafah and central Gaza today, a day after it said it was forced to shutter operations due to threats against its staff by Hamas operatives.

GHF says it also delivered 11 trucks’ worth of aid to community leaders for distribution in northern Rafah, as part of a pilot program that will see supplies delivered directly to Gazans, rather than forcing them to walk long distances and cross IDF lines in order to receive aid.

“We will be reviewing the operations and determining if this is a viable option moving forward,” it says.

Amid escalating tensions, the GHF reports it successfully delivered thousands of food boxes across Gaza “without incident” today, despite claims of IDF shooting near aid sites and explicit threats from Hamas against its staff.

“GHF is actively testing and adapting its distribution model to safely deliver the maximum amount of aid to the greatest number of people. We remain flexible and will continue to adapt distributions based on conditions on the ground, including road access, crowd pressure, and safety considerations,” continues the update, adding that the foundation is planning to open additional sites in northern Gaza.

John Acree, GHF’s interim executive director, adds, “Recently, we have started a women’s and children only lane to ensure they receive aid and today we piloted a direct-to-community delivery.”

Asked about the logistics behind the new delivery method, a GHF spokesman tells reporters that trucks delivered food “in population hubs outside of [the three aid centers], in order to reduce pressure on the main centers.” The spokesman specifies that “boxes are being distributed directly to people” as opposed to warehouses, to bypass Hamas operatives.

GHF said earlier today that it would open just one aid distribution site in central Gaza, after keeping the three sites closed yesterday over what it said were threats from the Hamas terror group against its staff members. The spokesman shares an Arabic-language threat from Hamas he says was received by GHF staff members: “This is your final warning: We are fully aware of everything you are doing, and all your movements are being monitored with extreme precision. You will not be forgiven for getting involved in projects that harm the dignity of our people and serve suspicious agendas under the guise of humanitarian work. Continuing down this path will have serious consequences, and you will bear full responsibility for the results of your actions. Stop now, or else.”

Addressing safety and security at the sites, GHF says, “Aid distribution at all three sites proceeded without incident.”

For multiple days in a row last week, and again this morning, there have been unverified reports of deadly shootings by IDF troops at and near the aid sites run by the Israel- and US-backed organization.

State prosecutors to indict four gang members for grenade attacks on Tel Aviv apartment building

Prior to chucking a grenade at a residential building in Tel Aviv, a masked suspect is seen at the scene in March 2025. (Screenshot/Israel Police)

State prosecutors are planning to indict four gang members suspected of targeting a Tel Aviv apartment building in two separate grenade attacks, a law enforcement spokesman says.

The suspects were arrested three weeks ago following an investigation into the incidents that took place in the city this March.

At around midnight on March 3, one of the suspects allegedly chucked a grenade at the building on Tel Aviv’s Moshe Dayan Street, injuring one person.

Weeks later on March 26, the suspects are thought to have been involved in throwing another grenade and firing shots at the same building. No injuries were reported in the second incident.

During a search of the suspects’ homes, police seized NIS 31,000 ($8,870) in cash, a knife and their phones. Investigators believe the men carried out the grenade attacks and shooting as part of a “criminal dispute” between rival gangs.

In the coming days, an indictment will be filed against the suspects, aged 19, 21, 30 and 32. They reside in Holon, Petah Tikvah and Beit She’an, police say.

Ben Gvir urges committee tasked with firing AG to convene Monday to get ball rolling

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir speaks during a rally outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, June 5, 2025. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls upon a ministerial committee tasked with firing the attorney general to convene on Monday and make a decision on her termination “as soon as possible.”

“I contacted [Diaspora Affairs] Minister Amichai Chikli, who is the chairman of the ministerial committee [and] told him: Let’s hold a discussion tomorrow, let’s invite the attorney general for a hearing this week already — it’s urgent, we can’t wait,” Ben Gvir says in a video statement.

“We will of course hear all the attorney general’s arguments but for the good of the State of Israel, this decision needs to be made as soon as possible,” he says.

In a controversial step, the cabinet this morning approved a government resolution allowing a ministerial committee to fire the attorney general — a move that circumvents the previous procedure that required a professional, statutory committee to be consulted before such a decision can be made.

Following the decision, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a member of the new panel, said that he and other ministers involved would “conduct a professional and fair process to examine the attorney general’s performance and examine her claims, and at the end we will recommend to the government for or against her dismissal.”

“The process will be carried out with an open heart and a willing mind, while understanding the centrality of the government’s trust in the legal adviser in her authority and performance,” Smotrich says.

National Unity to hold primaries in coming months

National Unity Party Leader MK Benny Gantz leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on May 26, 2025. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

Days ahead of a preliminary vote on a measure to dissolve the Knesset, Benny Gantz’s National Unity party announces that it will hold primaries in the coming months, in an apparent move to bolster public support ahead of elections.

In a statement, the party says that an outline presented to lawmakers on Sunday calls for National Unity to “open its ranks to public participation” in the coming months and that the “party assembly will be renewed and significantly enlarged.”

As part of this process, “elections for the party leadership will be held” and “members of the party’s audit committee and other internal institutions will be reappointed,” the statement continues, adding that the initiative will be headed by a “diverse” team.

An Israeli Democracy Institute poll released in February showed that National Unity had experienced a clear downward trend over the course of the past year, going from a 70% repeat voter share in April to 34% in December.

A Channel 12 survey aired earlier this year found mounting support for party number two MK Gadi Eisenkot to replace Gantz at the head of National Unity. The poll found that following former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s return to politics, the party would receive several more seats with Eisenkot in charge than with Gantz.

In March, the Haaretz daily reported that Eisenkot was dissatisfied with Gantz’s reluctance to honor a promise to hold leadership primaries within National Unity ahead of the next elections and that relations had soured between the two.

A recent Channel 13 poll showed National Unity getting 9 seats if elections were held today.

AG said to chide Ben Gvir for interfering in police affairs after he agreed he’d stay out of them

Left: National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90); Right: Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara (Oren Ben Hakoon/Pool)

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara chided National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir in recent days for what she characterized as his illicit interference in police decision making, flouting a legally binding agreement he made with the AG, Haaretz reports.

The agreement — which obliges Ben Gvir to scale back his involvement in operational police matters — was struck with the top legal official in April as he sought to defend himself against legal petitions demanding his dismissal. Critics of the minister claim he exploits police promotions to advance a far-right political agenda.

According to the report, Baharav-Miara contacted Ben Gvir’s office over his remarks surrounding the investigation of a Palestinian who spat on a female IDF soldier last month.

After police detained the suspect, Ben Gvir touted his arrest on social media and tweeted a photo of the man with the caption: “Zero tolerance toward those who harm IDF soldiers.”

Israel Prison Authority chief Kobi Yaakobi later ordered the suspect be transferred from a criminal detention center to a security prison, prompting praise from Ben Gvir.

“Anyone who spits on a soldier is a terrorist. Prison Authority Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi did a good thing by transferring the spitting terrorist from a criminal prison to a security prison,” the ultranationalist minister wrote. The suspect has since been released under restrictive conditions after an indictment was filed against him.

Unlike criminal detainees, security prisoners are held for committing a broad range of what Israel classifies as nationally motivated crimes ranging from gruesome terror attacks to publishing incendiary content. The vast majority of them are Palestinian.

Per Baharav-Miara, Ben Gvir’s praise for Yaakobi constituted illicit interference in law enforcement’s investigations policy, Haaretz reports.

A spokesman for Ben Gvir denies he received any comment from the attorney general and threatened to sue the outlet.

The Justice Ministry says it “does not comment on conversations with ministers.”

Palestinian media reports several large airstrikes in Jabalia, no IDF comment yet

Palestinian media reports several large airstrikes in northern Gaza’s Jabalia a short while ago.

There are no immediate reports of casualties in the strikes, and the IDF has not yet commented.

The IDF has warned several times in recent weeks that the Jabalia area is a combat zone, instructing civilians to evacuate.

#صور | حزام ناري تنفذه طائرات الاحتلال الصهيوني على وسط جباليا شمالي قطاع غزة pic.twitter.com/YqSLHVzi4w

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) June 8, 2025

Reservists in IDF’s new ultra-Orthodox brigade enter Gaza Strip for first time

In a first, members of the IDF’s new brigade for ultra-Orthodox soldiers, known as the Hasmonean Brigade, entered the Gaza Strip as part of the offensive against Hamas.

The soldiers, who are all part of the Hasmonean Brigade’s reserve company, are set to operate in the northern Gaza area to assist with defensive and mop-up operations.

היסטוריה: תמונה ראשונה של חטיבת חשמונאים בתוך רצועת עזה.

לוחמי החטיבה החרדית נכנסו בשעה האחרונה פנימה והצטרפו למשימות הגנה וטיהור מרחבים בצפון הרצועה. בתמונה – תדריך ראשון בראשות המח"ט, אל"ם אבינועם אמונה. pic.twitter.com/L2LWDlMyUN

— ינון שלום יתח (@inon_yttach) June 8, 2025

Hamas police chief who attacked Nova festival on Oct. 7 killed in strike a week ago, IDF says

The abandoned site of the Supernova music festival, near Kibbutz Re'im, where Hamas terrorists murdered and abducted numerous partygoers, October 12, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

A Hamas terrorist who infiltrated Kibbutz Re’im and attacked the nearby Nova festival during the October 7, 2023, onslaught was killed in an airstrike just over a week ago, the military says.

Arafat Dhiab was a member of Hamas’s Sheikh Radwan Battalion, known in the Israel Defense Forces as the al-Furqan Battalion, and also the chief of a Hamas-run police station in the Strip, according to the IDF.

Dhiab, who attacked Re’im and the Nova party on October 7, 2023, was killed on May 31, the IDF says.

Separately, the IDF says dozens of Hamas operatives were targeted in airstrikes directed by the 98th Division during operations in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis yesterday.

In northern Gaza’s Jabalia, a strike carried out by the 282nd Artillery Regiment eliminated several operatives at a command center, the IDF says, attaching a video of the incident.

Dozens more targets, including weapon depots, tunnels, and operatives, were hit in airstrikes in the past day, the military adds.

צה"ל ושב"כ תקפו וחיסלו ב-31 במאי 2025 את המחבל ערפאת דיאב מארגון הטרור חמאס, שפשט לקיבוץ רעים ולמסיבת הנובה בטבח הרצחני ב-7 באוקטובר. דיאב שימש כמחבל בגדוד אלפרקאן בארגון הטרור חמאס, ובמקביל פיקד על תחנת משטרה של הארגון וקידם מתווי טרור נגד אזרחי מדינת ישראל.

כוחות צה״ל בפיקוד… pic.twitter.com/95GeGG2nZP

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 8, 2025

Activists sailing to Gaza say Israel ‘jamming’ their GPS; likely due to Houthi drone precaution

Climate activist Greta Thunberg boards the Madleen boat before setting sail for Gaza along with activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy, June 1, 2025. (AP/Salvatore Cavalli)

A member of a high-profile activist mission sailing to Gaza in an attempt to challenge Israel’s blockade claims that Israel is “jamming our communications” after their GPS tracker briefly showed them at Jordan’s Queen Alia Airport, miles away from their actual position in the Mediterranean Sea.

“We just received some very weird news that, according to our tracker, we are no longer 162 nautical miles from Gaza, but we are [at] Jordan airport,” says Brazilian activist Thiago Avila aboard the Madleen in a post to social media.

“We know what that means, when they start jamming our communication and messing with our devices, it means they are preparing for an interception or an attack,” he claims.

Since the start of the war, users of driving navigation apps in Israel have often said their GPS was showing them to be in Beirut, Cairo, or Jordan.

The GPS signal disruptions have been part of the IDF’s efforts to prevent attacks on Israel, especially drone attacks, which rely on GPS for guidance. In recent months, the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have launched several drones at Israel, some of which have flown via the Mediterranean Sea.

Regardless, the GPS disruptions are unlikely to prevent the Madleen from approaching Gaza.

The Israeli Navy has been gearing up to intercept the boat before it reaches the Strip.

An activist on broad the humamatirian vessel Madleen says the boat is no longer properly tracked because their communication is blocked and jammed by Israel. pic.twitter.com/mCMrhZUF8U

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) June 8, 2025

Iranian minister says trove of sensitive Israeli documents to be unveiled soon

Iran's Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib (C) sits with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian (C-R) before a speech to members of parliament in the capital Tehran, Iran, on August 17, 2024. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Sensitive Israeli documents obtained by Tehran should be unveiled soon, Iranian Minister of Intelligence Esmail Khatib tells state TV, describing them as a “treasure trove” that will strengthen Iran’s offensive capabilities.

“The transfer of this treasure trove was time-consuming and required security measures. Naturally, the transfer methods will remain confidential but the documents should be unveiled soon,” Khatib says, adding that in terms of volume, “talking of thousands of documents would be an understatement.”

Khatib says the documents were related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and its relations with the United States, Europe and other countries, and to its defensive capabilities.

There is no immediate official comment from Israel.

Iranian state media reported on Saturday that Iranian intelligence agencies had obtained a large trove of sensitive Israeli documents. No evidence was provided to support the claims.

Semi-official Iranian media reported earlier that the intelligence was gathered and transferred by Roy Mizrahi and Almog Atias, two Israelis arrested by Israeli police in May on suspicion of collecting intelligence on behalf of Iran.

Bennett’s new political party completes registration process

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett speaks during a tech conference in Ness Ziona, May 5, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Naftali Bennett’s temporarily named “Bennett 2026” political party has completed the official registration process, allowing the former prime minister to run for the next Knesset without having to pay off the debts of his old Yamina party, Kan reports.

Responding to the report, Social Equality Minister May Golan of Likud accuses Bennett of having stolen the votes of rightwing voters in the last election and says that he is only running for office in order to access taxpayer money in order to pay for “another renovation in the basement of the villa in Ra’anana.”

Bennett’s party is currently polling ahead of Likud, despite having no members announced beyond Bennett himself.

In 2022, then prime minister Bennett’s office rejected a media report that alleged extravagant spending at his Ra’anana home, saying its expenses were far lower than those of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Bennett, who led the now-defunct right-wing Yamina party, has been out of office since the 2022 collapse of his diverse coalition government, which in 2021 ousted Prime Minister Netanyahu from the premiership after 12 consecutive years, following a period of political turmoil that saw four national elections held in three years.

A Channel 12 poll published last week found that the anti-Netanyahu bloc, if led by former prime minister Naftali Bennett and his newly registered party, would win 72 Knesset seats if elections were held today.

Shas’s Deri decries ‘hatred and incitement’ at site of synagogue arson

Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri prays the afternoon mincha prayer alongside former Sephardic chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef in Jerusalem's Or Habib Synagogue after the building was torched in an arson attack on June 8, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

Speaking with the press outside the Jerusalem synagogue of former Sephardic chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri says that “there is no greater hate crime” than the arson and vandalism committed there overnight.

“Enough with the hatred and incitement,” says Deri.

Yosef is the spiritual leader of Deri’s party.

“Words can kill, that is the meaning of this entire affair,” says Deri.

He adds that he hopes police will solve the case “in the coming hours.” No arrests have yet been made.

When asked whether he thinks the incident is connected to the ongoing coalition crisis over Haredi enlistment, he says he does not know.

“I see a hate crime here. Someone who came and burnt Torah scrolls and drew crosses,” he says, choking up slightly.

AG’s office to cabinet secretary: Broadcast media reform bill cannot be advanced yet

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi in the Knesset in Jerusalem on March 31, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Attorney General’s Office tells Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs that a far-reaching and controversial broadcast media reform bill authored by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi cannot be advanced in the Knesset before key procedural steps in the legal process of approving the draft bill are completed.

Professionals in the Communications Ministry and the Attorney General’s Office were preparing the law for advancement when Karhi halted the work and submitted the bill to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation in May for its approval for passage to the Knesset. The Attorney General’s Office told Karhi at the time that the legislation would undermine freedom of the press and was therefore unconstitutional, but the committee gave its backing to the bill regardless.

Fuchs then requested that the legislation be published in the state gazette as is necessary for a government bill before advancing to the Knesset.

The Attorney General’s Office tells Fuchs, however, that the bill cannot be published in the gazette or be advanced for its first reading in Knesset until consultations with the relevant authorities and legal advisers are conducted.

Government approves proposal to advance direct flights between Israel and Argentina

An El Al flight takes off from Ben Gurion International Airport, outside of Tel Aviv, August 25, 2024. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

The government approves a joint proposal by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to advance direct flights between Israel and Argentina, Sa’ar’s office announces following today’s cabinet meeting.

“This is a strategic move aimed at strengthening economic and diplomatic ties between the two countries and encouraging airlines to operate regular, direct commercial routes,” reads a statement from Sa’ar’s spokesman.

The approval precedes Argentinian President Javier Milei’s diplomatic visit to Israel later this week, during which he will focus on strengthening ties between Jerusalem and Buenos Aires.

The initiative resulted from close cooperation between the two ministers and Argentinian Ambassador to Israel Shimon Axel Wahnish, who all worked to promote the project following diplomatic discussions between Sa’ar and his Argentinian counterpart, Gerardo Werthein, the statement adds.

The measure “is expected to expand cooperation in the fields of investment, innovation, trade, and industry, and to strengthen Israel’s position as a key economic partner in Latin America,” says the statement.

Katz says he’s instructed IDF to prevent Greta Thunberg’s boat from breaching Gaza blockade

The Freedom Flotilla organization's Madleen boat docked near Catania's harbor, Italy, June 1, 2025, ahead of its departure (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

Defense Minister Katz says he has instructed the military to prevent a high-profile activist mission sailing to Gaza in an attempt to challenge Israel’s blockade from reaching the Strip.

The Madleen boat was organized by the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel Freedom Flotilla Coalition. Among the 12 activists on the ship are Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, Brazilian activist Thiago Avila and Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian European Parliament member.

“I have instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen does not reach Gaza. To the antisemitic Greta and her friends, I say clearly: You should turn back, because you will not reach Gaza,” Katz says in statement.

“The State of Israel will not allow anyone to violate the naval blockade on Gaza, the primary purpose of which is to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas, a murderous terror organization that holds our hostages and commits war crimes,” he adds.

French source rejects claims Paris retreating from recognizing Palestinian state

France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a joint press conference with Brazil's president (not in picture) following a meeting at The Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris, on June 5, 2025. (Christophe PETIT TESSON / POOL / AFP)

A French diplomatic source rejects claims that Paris is backing away from its goal of recognizing a Palestinian state, calling such suggestions “false.”

“We clearly see that some have an interest in indicating that we are not moving towards the recognition of Palestine. That is false,” says the source in a statement.

The rebuttal follows a Guardian report yesterday in which diplomatic sources downplayed the likelihood that a June 18 United Nations conference co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia will include a formal declaration of recognition, saying the meeting will instead focus on practical steps toward recognition.

The source speaking today points to statements by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in the French Senate three days ago, saying Barrot made clear that France is “determined to recognize the state of Palestine to create the conditions for the existence of this state.”

“In doing so, [Barrot] echoed the words of [French President Emmanuel Macron] in the joint declaration with his British and Canadian counterparts, which highlighted the important role of the high-level conference on the two-state solution at the United Nations in June,” adds the source.

“Our goal for this conference indeed goes beyond the question of recognition. It is indeed about recreating an international consensus around the two-state solution, which allows for a lasting resolution to the conflict. The recognition of the State of Palestine is consistent with France’s position in support of the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians. As part of the conference… it must make a useful contribution to the dynamics of implementing the two states, based on the principles reiterated by [Macron],” concludes the statement.

Macron said on Thursday that he expects the June meeting to take steps “toward recognizing Palestine,” though he did not elaborate. A French official has also noted that any French decision on recognition “will be dealt with separately from the outcome of the June conference.”

Boy, 13, critically wounded by gunfire, apparently while playing with parent’s gun

A 13-year-old boy has been critically wounded by gunfire in Rishon Lezion, apparently as he and a friend played with a handgun that then went off.

Police are investigating the incident. They suspect the two had taken the gun from one of their parents and were playing with it outside when it fired.

Israel appoints ambassador to Zambia ahead of embassy launch; Zambian FM visiting this week

The government has approved the appointment of Ofra Farhi as Israel’s ambassador to Zambia, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s office says in a statement.

The Foreign Ministry is set to open an embassy in the southern African state in August.

“Strengthening ties with African countries is one of the strategic goals Minister Sa’ar has set for the Foreign Ministry for 2025,” reads the statement, adding that later this week, Zambia’s foreign minister, Mulambo Haimbe, will arrive in Israel for a bilateral visit.

Farhi currently serves as non-resident ambassador to Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana; she will retain those non-resident posts while taking up her position in Lusaka, the statement says.

She previously served as Israel’s deputy ambassador to Italy, as director of the Foreign Relations Department within MASHAV, the Foreign Ministry’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, and as director of the ministry’s US and Eurasia Economy Department.

Opposition members blast cabinet for move to let ministerial panel fire AG

Leader of The Democrats party Yair Golan leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, May 26, 2025. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

The Democrats chairman Yair Golan condemns Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the cabinet’s decision to allow a ministerial panel to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, arguing that the government is looking for a scapegoat for its own failures.

“Netanyahu will not fire the attorney general. The government of abandonment and failure never stops looking for those to blame for its failures. Today it’s the attorney general’s turn,” Golan tweets. “Gali, there is a huge community standing behind you. The people are with you. Continue to defend the law with your head held high.”

National Unity chairman Benny Gantz also slams the government, arguing that the decision “will not result in the dismissal of the attorney general” because “you cannot change the rules of the game in the middle of play.

“The members of the government know this, the prime minister knows this, and so does the justice minister. Their entire goal is to undermine the legitimacy of state institutions and blame others for their inability to make decisions. The citizens of Israel deserve a government that will unite the country — not a government that acts against it. It will happen, and soon.”

Gaza’s civil defense spokesman denies being a member of Hamas

After the army accused the spokesman for Gaza’s civil defense of being a Hamas terrorist, Mahmoud Bassal denies the allegation.

Citing documents found during its forces’ Gaza offensive, the IDF said Bassal was “an active terrorist” in the group whose October 2023 attack on Israel sparked the Gaza war. It issued copies of what it said were Hamas membership lists to the media. The military accused Bassal of serving Hamas’s objectives by spreading false and unverified information about its operations in Gaza.

“This is a false accusation,” Bassal tells AFP. “I do not work for any military organization,” he says, adding that the agency’s mission is guided by international law.

Beyond the IDF’s latest specific accusation against Bassal, all organizations operating in Gaza do so at the pleasure of Hamas since its 2007 violent takeover of the enclave.

Shas’s Deri meets former chief rabbi Yosef in his home after synagogue torched

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri meets former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef in his home after the synagogue he prays at was torched overnight.

Yosef’s home is just meters away from the targeted Or Habib Synagogue in Jerusalem’s Sanhedria neighborhood.

They are accompanied by deputy police chief Avshalom Peled and deputy Jerusalem District commander Ronen Ovadia.

Speaking in the synagogue, Yosef’s son-in-law says the Shin Bet has begun investigating the incident alongside police.

אחרי השריפה: יו"ר ש"ס אריה דרעי כעת במעונו של מרן רבי יצחק יוסף. pic.twitter.com/kLJHoQi429

— אבי מוסקוב Avi moskoff (@AviMoskov) June 8, 2025

“Whenever we hear that a synagogue in France was damaged by an antisemite, we are all shocked. This time, it’s not in France, but the holy land,” he says. He calls the incident an antisemitic attack targeting Yosef and his family.

“The books of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef were burned,” he says, referring to Yosef’s late father, the widely renowned spiritual leader of Israel’s Sephardi Jews.

The damage to the synagogue is limited to one corner of the building. The perpetrator torched dozens of books he took from a shelf, and broke a window.

Cabinet okays motion to let ministerial panel fire AG, ignoring warnings it is unlawful

Justice Minister Yariv Levin at a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset on January 21, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

In a highly controversial step, the cabinet approves a government resolution allowing a ministerial committee to fire the attorney general — a move that circumvents the previous procedure that required a professional, statutory committee to be consulted before such a decision can be made.

Earlier today, the Attorney General’s Office stated that the proposed new method of firing the attorney general would politicize the position, make the attorney general dependent on the government’s goodwill, and contravene previous High Court rulings, and would therefore be unlawful.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s office states that immediately upon approval of the resolution, Levin sent a letter to the five-member ministerial committee asking it to hold a hearing for Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and then issue a decision on whether or not to fire her. However, this is unlikely to happen before the matter is brought before the High Court of Justice.

Government watchdog groups have already said they will petition the High Court against the move, and it seems highly likely that the cabinet resolution will face serious difficulties in court, given the apolitical nature of the attorney general’s position since the founding of the state and the government’s move to circumvent the standing procedure.

If the court strikes down the motion, and the government attempts to move forward with the process anyway — as some ministers have suggested it should — the standoff could lead to a full-blown constitutional crisis.

Levin says removing Baharav-Miara from office is necessary due to “ongoing and substantive differences of opinion” between her and the government and the “absence of effective cooperation by the attorney general” with the government’s agenda.

Herzog, Sa’ar condemn ‘repugnant’ arson attack on Jerusalem synagogue

President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar strongly condemn the arson attack on former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef’s Or Habib synagogue in Jerusalem last night.

Herzog writes, “The torching of holy books, the spraying of crosses, and the attempted burning of Torah scrolls… are deeply repugnant,” and calls for “swift and resolute action to investigate this grave hate crime and bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Sa’ar writes on X: “This is a grave and shocking hate crime. I am confident the perpetrators will be caught and call for the full severity of the law to be applied against them.”

Head of Gaza militia quoted denying backing by Israel and demanding Hamas relinquish power

Members of the Abu Shabab gang in Gaza, seen in a recent video posted by the group. (screen capture: Facebook)

The head of an anti-Hamas militia in Gaza is quoted today giving comments to an Israeli media outlet and a US nonprofit on his group’s operations in the enclave, in which he denies ties to Jerusalem.

Defense sources confirmed on Thursday that Israel has been arming a criminal gang in the Strip as part of an effort to strengthen opposition to Hamas in the enclave. The group in question is led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a member of a large clan in southern Gaza. It has been linked in the past to smuggling operations with Egyptian jihadist groups.

The revelation led to intense criticism within Israel.

Ostensibly speaking to Army Radio in a series of text messages, the veracity of which hasn’t been confirmed, Abu Shabab says: “We do not work with Israel. Our goal is to protect the Palestinians from Hamas terror. Our weapons are not from Israel — they are simple arms we collected from the local population.”

He adds that “these rumors are meant to harm our reputation and create hostility between us, Israel, and Arab states.”

He denies having any meetings with Israeli officials, while saying that “if any coordination takes place it will be humanitarian, for the benefit of our people in eastern Rafah, and will be carried out through mediation channels.”

Meanwhile, the Center for Peace Communications, which bills itself as an organization committed to revealing the plight of those living under the rule of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, publishes what it calls an “exclusive first public statement” from Abu Shabab. It is not clear how it obtained the audio clip, which also cannot be verified.

In it, the person identifying himself as Abu Shabab also denies “working with the occupation,” while calling on Hamas to “step down from government.” He asserts, “We have hundreds of families heading to the areas we control daily.”

COGAT says video shows Hamas execution of Palestinian in Gaza City

Footage released by COGAT, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, on June 8, 2025, shows an alleged Hamas execution of a Palestinian in Gaza City (COGAT).

The Defense Ministry body in charge of Israeli-Palestinian contacts publishes a video of what it says is a Hamas execution of a Palestinian in Gaza City over the weekend.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) publishes the video on its Arabic-language Facebook page. It does not offer info on the circumstances.

The video can be watched here, with the victim blurred out (Warning: Graphic content).

“Residents of Gaza — the Hamas terrorists and criminals are killing you and do not care about your lives,” COGAT says. “There is no difference between a dictator who kills in silence and a terrorist who slaughters openly — both are your enemies and enemies of life.

“The shocking documentation before you is yet another desperate, failed attempt to sow fear among the public in order to preserve Hamas’s rule, power, and governance, while trampling on and cynically exploiting the residents of Gaza for the sake of the survival of Hamas’s terrorist regime and its continued rule.”

Haredi leaders attribute arson at top rabbi’s shul to ‘incitement’ over conscription fight

MK Aryeh Deri attends a Knesset session in Jerusalem on February 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Senior ultra-Orthodox political figures blame last night’s arson attack against former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef’s Or Habib synagogue in Jerusalem on anti-Haredi “incitement” relating to the fight over the military conscription of yeshiva students.

In a statement, United Torah Judaism MK Yisrael Eichler claims that whoever set the synagogue on fire was seeking to “incite civil war” and warns that “the antisemitic campaign being waged against the Torah world is liable to result in bloodshed.”

The phrase “the Torah world” refers to the network of full-time yeshivas that form the backbone of ultra-Orthodox society.

“The antisemitic incitement in the media and the government persecution of the holy ones of Israel, Torah students, and the observant must immediately cease.”

Yosef is the spiritual leader of the Sephardic Shas party and a vocal opponent of efforts to conscript the ultra-Orthodox into the IDF, and has come under intense criticism for statements calling for Haredim to leave Israel if draft dodgers are arrested. He recently called Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair Yuli Edelstein “wicked” for demanding tough sanctions on yeshiva students who evade military service.

Last month, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman filed a criminal complaint against Yosef over his instruction to yeshiva students to tear up and flush enlistment orders.

In a statement, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri calls the arson “a serious hate crime” aimed not only at the former chief rabbi but against “an entire traditional public and against the values ​​of the Jewish identity of the State of Israel.”

Such incidents “must not be allowed to become a daily occurrence,” he says, adding that the Shin Bet security service is treating the incident as “a nationalist terrorist attack” and that until the government can increase Yosef’s security, he will provide a private guard at the rabbi’s home.

Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur (Shas) calls the arson “a direct result of the serious incitement raging against the rabbi and against Torah students in the holy land,” while Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush (UTJ) blames the incident on “rampant incitement against Torah students by public figures led by the attorney general.”

Both UTJ chairman Yitzchak Goldknopf and MK Moshe Gafni, the chairman of UTJ’s Degel HaTorah faction, release statements condemning the incident, without actively assigning blame.

AG’s office says proposed change to process by which she could be removed is unlawful

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a meeting of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, April 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Attorney General’s Office states that a proposal by the government to change the way the attorney general can be removed from office would politicize the position, make the post dependent on the government’s goodwill and contravene previous High Court rulings, and would therefore be unlawful.

The cabinet is set to debate and possibly authorize a government resolution today that would grant a five-member ministerial committee the ability to fire the attorney general without consulting the statutory committee tasked with hiring and firing for the position.

Although Justice Minister Yariv Levin set in motion the process to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara in March, he has been unable to advance the process due to an inability to staff that statutory committee.

The proposed government resolution “is an extreme expression of a series of actions promoted recently, the purpose of which is to remove limits and oversight over governmental power… while politicizing the public service and harming the neutrality of [law enforcement] guardians,” writes Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon.

“Under the guise of a procedural amendment, a tectonic shift is being proposed in the role and status of the attorney general — a role that, since the founding of the state, has been shaped as a nonpartisan, independent and apolitical position, aimed at implementing government policy while being obligated to uphold the rule of law and the public interest,” he says.

“The proposal, if accepted, would pave the way for turning the attorney general into someone bound by the political needs of the government, even if those needs do not align with the law or the rule of law… It would be a mortal blow to the independent status of the attorney general, who serves as a guardian [of democracy] of the first degree, and a serious violation of their professionalism, independence, and impartiality. These moves seriously harm public interest, ethical integrity, and the rule of law,” he adds.

Netanyahu blasts ‘arson and desecration’ of former chief rabbi’s synagogue

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemns the “arson and desecration” of former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef’s Or Habib synagogue in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sanhedria.

“We must not allow scenes that remind us of tragic periods in our history,” Netanyahu says, citing the Fire and Rescue Service’s determination that the fire was set intentionally.

“I call on law enforcement authorities to locate the perpetrators as soon as possible” and punish them to the full extent possible, Netanyahu demands.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid also condemns the incident, stating that he “expects the police to quickly find the culprits and bring them to the strictest justice,” while Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman declares that “a handful of criminals must not be allowed to undermine the unity of Israeli society.”

IDF: Documents prove spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense is ‘active terrorist’ in Hamas

The IDF publishes intelligence documents captured during operations in Gaza, which it says prove that the spokesperson for the Civil Defense Agency in the Strip is an “active terrorist” in Hamas.

Mahmoud Basal “has served as a spokesperson for the Civil Defense for a long time and exploits his position to spread false and unverified information to international media outlets, falsely attributing war crimes to Israel and presenting distorted data,” the military says.

“This information has received media exposure worldwide and has severely distorted the reality on the ground,” the IDF says.

The documents recovered by the IDF in Gaza show that Basal “is a terrorist in the Hamas terror group, and as part of his role, he serves the purposes of psychological warfare and propaganda,” according to the military.

The documents appear to show Basal listed on a roster of operatives for the group.

📄EXPOSED: Mahmoud Bassal poses as a “Gaza Civil Spokesperson”. However, intelligence documents expose him as an active Hamas operative.

Watch to see how: pic.twitter.com/hBjKyvKDC2

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 8, 2025

Ben Gvir demands ‘urgent discussion’ on Israel’s alleged funding of aid in Gaza

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir outside a court hearing in Lod, April 15, 2025. (Jonathan Shaul/Flash90)

Writing to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir demands an “urgent discussion” on Israel’s alleged funding of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, which he claims “weakens our operational efforts and takes us further away from victory and the return of our hostages.”

He strongly opposes any aid at all being allowed into Gaza, Ben Gvir writes, “while our hostages are languishing in Hamas tunnels and our heroic fighters are maneuvering in the Strip.”

But it’s even more unthinkable, he says, that the Israeli taxpayer would be forced to fund “food and supplies for the population that participated en masse in the massacre on October 7, and rejoiced when our brothers and sisters were slaughtered.”

Last month, Netanyahu ordered the immediate resumption of “basic” humanitarian aid into Gaza amid mounting US pressure to end Israel’s months-long blockade. The decision was made without a cabinet vote, angering Ben Gvir and other hard-right politicians.

Subsequently, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accused Netanyahu of funding the new aid mechanism through what he described as foreign “shell companies,” prompting the prime minister’s spokesman to insist that “Israel does not fund humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip.”

However, last week, Kan news reported that the government has transferred NIS 700 million (some $280 million) to fund the new humanitarian aid mechanism, which is run by the the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

According to Ben Gvir, “On May 5, 2025, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich brought a proposal for a decision to the government that was defined as an ‘urgent security need’ without specifying what it was.”

“Unfortunately and surprisingly, the discussion did not appear on the agenda in advance, and it appears that the discussion was held towards the end of the meeting when a significant number of ministers had left, and even then the issue was not discussed in detail, and it has become clear in recent days that this is humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip at the expense of the Israeli taxpayer,” he asserts.

IDF targets Hamas member in strike in southern Syria

A member of Hamas was targeted in an Israeli drone strike near the southern Syrian village of Beit Jinn, the military says.

Beit Jinn is  some seven kilometers from the Israel-Syrian border, just outside a buffer zone currently controlled by the IDF.

No further details are given by the IDF on the target of the strike.

Report: France, UK, Canada set conditions for Palestinians for state recognition

Saudi television station Asharq reports that France, Britain and Canada have set preconditions for the Palestinian Authority and Hamas for the recognition of a Palestinian state.

The outlet says these include significant political reforms in the PA and the demilitarization of Gaza.

Citing Western and regional sources, it says the nations are demanding in the West Bank the renewal of a functioning parliament, free and fair elections, and the commitment to a peaceful transfer of power. In Gaza, they say Hamas must hand over rule to an elected Palestinian government and undergo demilitarization.

Fire service confirms arson behind fire at Jerusalem synagogue

The scene of suspected arson and vandalism at a Jerusalem synagogue that is often attended by Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, June 8, 2025 (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)

A fire that broke out at a Jerusalem synagogue last night was set intentionally, the Fire and Rescue Service says.

“After an examination of all the findings at the scene, it was unequivocally determined that this was arson,” says the service, which is probing the incident together with the police.

Firefighters were called to Jerusalem’s Sanhedria neighborhood overnight to extinguish the fire. The synagogue is frequented by former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef. Prayer books were also found vandalized in the building. In a possibly related event, a cross was found painted onto the door of a nearby house.

Police have not reported any arrests related to the incident.

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel has called on the Shin Bet to investigate, adding that he had contacted the agency’s outgoing head Ronen Bar regarding the fire, Ynet reports. “This is a worrying escalation and an attack on a national symbol,” he says of the incident, labeling it “a heinous hate crime.”

שרפה פרצה הלילה בבית הכנסת של הרב יצחק יוסף בירושלים, כתובות נאצה וצלבים רוססו על בניין סמוך@daniel_grovais pic.twitter.com/Hbge5o8bMi

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) June 8, 2025

Trump deploys National Guard as protests against immigration agents continue in LA

Law enforcement clashes with demonstrators during a protest following federal immigration operations, in the Compton neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2025 (RINGO CHIU / AFP)

US President Donald Trump’s administration says it will deploy 2,000 National Guard troops on Saturday as federal agents in Los Angeles faced off against a few hundred demonstrators during a second day of protests following immigration raids.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned that the Pentagon is prepared to mobilize active-duty troops “if violence continues” in Los Angeles, saying the Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton are “on high alert.”

Federal security agents on Saturday confronted protesters in the Paramount area in southeast Los Angeles, where some demonstrators displayed Mexican flags. A second protest in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night attracted some 60 people, who chanted slogans including “ICE out of LA!”

Trump signed a presidential memorandum to deploy the National Guard troops to “address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester,” the White House says.

Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News that the National Guard would be deployed in Los Angeles on Saturday.

California Governor Gavin Newsom calls the decision “purposefully inflammatory.” He posts on X that Trump is deploying the National Guard “not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle,” adding: “Don’t give them one. Never use violence. Speak out peacefully.”

Police probing arson and vandalism at Jerusalem synagogue of former chief rabbi

Police are investigating suspected arson and vandalism at a Jerusalem synagogue that is frequented by former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef.

Overnight, firefighters were called to the shul in the Sanhedria neighborhood, where a fire had erupted. Additionally, prayer books were found vandalized. In a possibly related event, a cross was found painted onto the door of a nearby house.

The synagogue suffered some damage due to the fire. No one was hurt.

GHF says aid center will be open in central Gaza this morning, all others to stay closed

The Gaza Humanitarian Fund says it will open an aid distribution site in central Gaza this morning, after keeping its sites closed yesterday over what it said were threats from Hamas against its staff.

It will be the only site open on Sunday, it says.

In the update posted on Facebook, GHF reminds people that they may only take one box per family.

Earlier, the organization said two aid centers would be open in Rafah in the afternoon but has since deleted the statement from its Facebook page.

Colombian presidential candidate shot, seriously injured during campaign event

Miguel Uribe, a candidate in next year’s Colombian presidential election, was shot three times, including twice in the head, during a campaign event in Bogota Saturday, paramedics say.

The 39-year-old right-wing opposition senator suffered two gunshot wounds to the head and one to the knee, according to the medical personnel who treated him.

He is in serious condition.

Moldovan national stabbed to death in Tel Aviv apartment, partner detained for questioning

A 32-year-old Moldovan national was stabbed to death in his home in Tel Aviv earlier tonight, police say.

Police have opened a murder investigation, and the victim’s partner has been detained for questioning, along with three other people.

All suspects are Moldovan nationals, Hebrew media reports.

GHF says two aid distribution sites to be open Sunday afternoon, warns against showing up earlier

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it will open two aid distribution sites today after keeping its sites closed yesterday over what it said were threats from Hamas against its staff.

The two sites in south Gaza’s Rafah will not open until noon, though, as the GHF still struggles to fully get off the ground.

The announcement on GHF’s Arabic Facebook page warns Gazans against showing up to distribution sites before they open, saying they may not be able to serve those who violate the rule.

Sites have seen massive crowding since they launched on May 26, highlighting the desperate humanitarian situation in the Strip, whose residents have been forced to sometimes walk dozens of miles to pick up heavy boxes of food.

The mechanism has been criticized by the UN and aid groups, who say civilians in need should not be forced to walk through IDF lines to pick up food. GHF, in turn, has blasted the UN for refusing to cooperate with the only initiative Israel is allowing for aid distribution at scale.

The GHF announcement also says women interested in picking up aid should approach staff for assistance, as men, for the most part, have been the only ones who have been able to fight through the crowds in order to pick up boxes of food.

After fleeing, man arrested on suspicion of murdering his mother in Nahariya

Police have arrested the man suspected of murdering his mother in the northern city of Nahariya, before fleeing the scene.

67-year-old woman in Nahariya stabbed to death; police searching for son on suspicion of murder

A 67-year-old woman critically hurt in a stabbing in the northern city of Nahariya has died of her wounds, paramedics say.

The announcement comes shortly after police launched a search for the woman’s son, who is suspected of killing her.